For ‘X-Files,’ the Youth Is Out There

In “The X-Files,” TV’s most paranoid FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) confront wormy blood, killer bees and government conspiracies as they battle evil aliens and their feelings for each other. (Rated PG-13)

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“The X-Files” movie was spooky, scary, full of platonic tension and just as good as “The X-Files” on the small screen, according to a group of fervent young fans.

Most movie critics disagreed, but what do they know?

“They’re looking for different stuff than we are,” said Sara McManus, 13, who slunk in her seat, hugged herself and shrieked along with fellow Irvine students Shauna Corso, 13, and Emily Azuaje, 12, throughout the 2:02 film.

The friends agreed the movie offered much bigger special effects and more detail about the pair’s familiar investigations into the paranormal than they’ve been following on TV since the series began in 1992. The plot, in fact, picks up the thread from the series that introduced the latest mystery--what could be the source of oily, black wormy blood that spreads over people’s eyes and causes alarmed government agents to whisk them away into secret medical wards?

Unlike TV, the movie gets up close and personal with the gooey substances and the inevitable alien creatures that slither visibly inside people’s jellylike bodies.

“I freaked out,” Shauna said. “They freaked out too. It was really scary in the beginning. I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to have nightmares.’ ”

“Good,” Emily said. “Loved it,” Sara agreed. “Ten thumbs up,” Shauna added.

As Mulder and Scully travel back and forth from Texas to Washington, D.C., to Antarctica, the show’s basic themes are presented for novices: Mulder is the believer in government conspiracies and cover-ups, Scully the skeptic. Their differences only heighten their mutual attraction as they take turns rescuing each other from death and disaster.

Two “X-files” novices--George Sangster, 16, of Laguna Niguel and Chris Loflin, 16, of Aliso Viejo--said they were inspired by the movie to start watching the series reruns on the FX cable channel.

“I want to catch up and find out what it’s all about,” Chris said.

If there was any disappointment, the girls said, it was that even after five years, Mulder still hasn’t kissed Scully on the lips. (Resuscitation doesn’t count.) But he did hold her face lovingly in his hands, and that was enough to keep them hooked into future episodes.

The girls know it’s probably better this way.

“If they ever did get together, it would affect, like, their work,” Shauna said. “That’s why they’re holding back. They would quit their jobs and become accountants later on.”

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PARENT PERSPECTIVE: Shauna said her parents are divided, like Mulder and Scully, about “The X-Files.” She and her dad watch the series together faithfully. In fact, he had already seen the movie and given her a scene-by-scene account, which only made her want to see it more. “My mom doesn’t like to watch it,” she said. “She thinks it’s too scary.”